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Vargrs
Vargrs, often referred to as one of the Wild Races along with Trolls and Urks, are one of six sentient races in Paledia. Others include humans, elves and dwarves. Vargrs tend to be referred to as wolfmen or wolves, taking the form of large, haired, lupine creatures. Biology The Vargr are clearly divided in two by their gender. Females Traditionally the dominant gender, females are larger than their male counterparts. Ancient human script refers to them as "Bear Vargr", or, even less accurate, "Bear-men". Female Vargr are slow, reflexive creatures (elven and human racism has never really allowed for the term "wise") with strong, thick extremities, a powerful jaw, and three sets of large sagging teats, as is proper of a beast that must feed up to six cubs each season. Males Vargr males are small, fast, clever (in comparison to the slower females) and agile. They are much more numerous than females (some estimates place their birh ratio at 2:1), and are traditionally the hunter class. Culture The Hunt At the root of Vargr identity, of "Vargrhood" as it were, is the concept of the hunt. This led to agriculture or other activites never being developed by Vargr communities, which contributes to their image of savages without past. A male, and to a lesser extent a female, Vargr finds its self-realization in being a hunter. Elven and Human scholars have managed to narrow down the concept of The Hunt to a few basic principles: : 1.-The hunt must be a worthy challenge for the hunter or group of hunters. 2.-The hunt must bring a clear benefit to the hunter or his clan. 3.-The hunter must never exert or risk himself in a pointless endeavor. 4.-The hunt must involve an enemy or adversarial force, which is to be defeated by the end of the fight. Vargr are not bound by magic or nature to obey them, but cultural pressure is enough to keep most in line, as Vargr who do not hunt are seen as lazy, ungrateful and weak, and those who do so without purpose are seen as vain and wasteful. Another interesting aspect of the Vargr conception of hunting is that it certainly does not end with killing beasts for their meat as raiding, pillage, piracy, and banditry are all accepted as a form of hunting. Problematically, a good honest day's work is not really a hunt, since for the most part it does not involve the beating of an enemy force. This has led to the Vargr getting a reputation as mercenaries rather than workers, destroyers rather than builders, a reputation that some groups resent while others accept wholeheartedly. Matriarchy and Patriarchy Matriarchy is an important element of traditional Vargr culture, as female Vargr come together and give orders in any clan. Any male Vargr raised in the olden ways will tell you this is necessary and good, since the Mothers (as female Vargr are known) will act on their children's best interest. Male Vargr are known as Sons, and this denotes the importance of motherhood within a traditional Vargr community, since family lines are counted using the mother as reference and it is by their whim that partnerships are formed and broken. However, with the advent of enslavement the old order was broken. Humans started doing two things that would define modern Vargr culture: firstly, they started using Mothers for heavy work, being as they are large beasts, something that boils every Vargr's blood with righteous anger; secondly, they started treating Sons with greater respect and deference than Mothers. This, coupled with the influence of simply being near each other, altered Vargr culture considerably by introducing the concept of Patriarchy. Slave communities did not see it as markedly as free rebel clans, who were shocked to see how deeply slavery had affected them: Sons now owned property, gave orders to their brothers and, the greatest shock of all, stood up and contradicted Mothers' decisions every once in a while. Modern Vargr culture, especially outside of slave camps where there's barely any space for Vargr-to-Vargr interaction, sees a queer conflict occur between the new patriarchal establishment and the older matriarchal order. Modern male Vargr will argue that it is necessary, since the traits of the Hunter are more needed by their communities now than in the past. Traditionalist male Vargr will say hunters have always been needed, but that their upbringing requires them to defer to the Mothers as a way to protect the next generation. These two positions will often come to a head in a violent way. Female Vargr are too hurt, confused, or amused by the whole thing to express a much needed opinion. Clan and Community Clan is a group of Vargr united by blood, which for them means the Mother's, and is the traditional unit into which the population is divided. A hundred-Vargr clan is remarkably large. A community is a term used to describe a group of Vargr that is not entirely related within itself, but that can include relatives and even entire clans within themselves. Most forced labor camps are communities. Jewelry and Power Traditional Vargr communities were alien to the very idea of decoration. However, when the humans came their power inspired respect and reverence for all aspects of their existence, even one as trivial as jewelry. The use of various necklaces, earrings and bracelets sported by male Vargr is seen as a display of power. Language, "Old Vargr" Every once in a while a Vargr will use a word of unknown origin with strange meaning. Supposedly, older Mothers know a semi-secret language spoken in the olden days, which is where this terms apparently originate. Being as there is no recorded evidence of this tongue, however, Elves and Humans usually dismiss the matter as a "typical Vargr lie", seeing as how Vargr in general speak Imperial or a variation thereof. The Beylerbey "Beylerbey" was traditionally a largely ceremonial position, something like "Lieutenant Administrator", and the highest honor a Mothercouncil might grant a Son. As the role was not very important, there used to be many Beylerbey all over Vargr territory. However, ever since Rothiph-Lerwor rose to power, he has managed to influence, through various means, Mothercouncils into both bestowing the title unto him and refusing to give it to anyone else. This has led to outsiders using Beylerbey as shorthand for Chieftain, or even King, a mistake Rothiph-Lerwor is not particularly quick to correct. History Legend and Origin The farthest back Vargr legends (there is no source more reliable) goes is to a mysterious event in the distant past known as the Wolf Awakening, where a nameless and unique God decided it was time for wolves to take the land, and therefore granted them their current form. No other mention is ever made of this God, and the rest of Vargr folklore deals withgreat hunters and hunts. Interestingly, modern Vargr culture has incorporated the stories of post-imperial Vargr pirates and bandits into its lore, something that is found to be distasteful by the more traditionalist among them. Slavery Unlike Elves, the Vargr were hated so much by humans for the atrocities committed against pre-imperial human settlements that no good citizen of the empire would abide by their presence in the cities or farmlands. To keep the Vargr in line, their human masters keep them separated in work camps, usually near a mine, making sure to break up clans and treat them horribly. This has precipitated the divide between traditional and modern Vargr culture, as modern Vargr lack that sense of close clan cohesion t the core of traditional Vargr culture. Rebellion and Lerwor The Vargr were never fully exterminated, nor were they enslaved in the same manner as other races were. Even after the Wars of Expansion, some clans remained free in forests, periodically raiding human settlements and occasionally provoking the emperor's wrath. These clans fought for more than 200 years to liberate their fellow Vargr from abject captivity, and with Cigomar I as an adversary the war was long, brutal and painful. However, while the Forest Clans remained traditional and followed the Old Ways, slave encampments were heavily influenced by human presence and would come to develop a culture all their own. Modern Vargr Culture is a mix of traditional Vargr lore, Imperial customs and a very unique touch derived from the experience of forced labor camps. During the rule of Cigomar II, most of the Forest Clans were wiped out in a rather brutal way. While the emperor wanted to make an example of the entire race, local lords managed to convince him to allow them to buy the thousands of captives, generating a new great influx of slaves into work camps. Among these slaves was Rothiph, an older Mother. Rothiph was large, wise and unmeasurably old. Rothiph was also with child. Rothiph was sold to the Third Oldlyn labour camp, in the peninsula's south, and, much to the dismay of its residents, could not endure the horrible conditions slave life imposed upon her frail forest body. She collapsed one day doing minework, and every Vargr stopped what they were doing to mourn her passing. Guards knew better than to intervene, for they realized what Rothiph represented in the community. Rothiph's body was opened up by the community, so that the dead children may be extracted and mourned separately. However, upon inspecting the womb, the ones present heard a cry. A cub's cry. Legend has it that only one Son-child survived his mother's death, and this child was named Rothiph-Lerwor, which means Rothiph's Legacy in Old Vargr. Rothiph-Lerwor was a sickly child, and had to be taken care of for years after most cubs are made to work. Being as how there weren't any mothers around, Rothiph-Lerwor grew up sick, alone on the barracks of the guards that looked over his people. He eventually got better, and it was then that he started honing his skill in deception by feigning sickness in order to be put in the barracks, where he would escape and roam the countryside. Rothiph-Lerwor eventually escaped, he roamed most of the Oldlyn penisnula and witnessed firsthand the horrors of slavery. It was during this time that Rothiph-Lerwor came into contact with the very last remnants of the free Forest Clans, where he was introduced by Mothers to the profound cultural and spiritual heritage of the Vargr people. Rothiph-Lerwor has an undeniable skill for leadership (whether or not this is a result of nature or nurture is a controversial issue within modern Vargr culture, where nature and nurture are at odds at all times) and also an affinity for intrigue that allowed him to gain control of hunting packs (on his first stage, he never challenged Mothers directly, only ran away with large numbers of Sons) and led them into small raiding and banditry in the northernmost coast of the Oldlyn Peninsula, beggining at around the same time child-emperor Jerolian came into "power". As Rothiph-Lerwor predicted, this provoked the local lord into sending most of his forces northward, while at the same time Rothiph-Lerwor led his small host south. He arrived at the third Oldlyn labor camp after only a skeleton crew was left in it, as most soldiers had been ordered northwards. The camps fell easily, and since then Rothiph-Lerwor has led a growing rebelion made up of both sides of modern Vargr culture, acting as a sort of bridge between the two, which would undoubtedly fight each other if it weren't for him. Category:Races